My dream is to have a perfect English cottage garden, but there's not much hope of that at the moment. It's going to take a lot more skill plus a few more years to achieve a garden any where near this dream, but still, I've managed to create a few pleasing results this year.

Cheerful results were achieved by rather hit and miss methods. The Saphire Lobelia was carefully fed through the sides of the basket, but the rest, including bright red Geraniums and mixed trailing Petunia were literally thrown in.

Oh to have a sea of Lupins across the boarder.

Here I've opted for mauves and pinks, from the cool lilac of the Hosta flowers and the tall Lavenders, to the hot pinky purple of the 'Busy Lizzy'. The cobalt blue pot gives depth of colour, whilst the beautiful and elegant Lavender give height and a free and easy look to the shot.